


A Purrfect Family

by LoeyBlossom



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M, Sehun doesn't know a thing about cats, adopt don't shop!!, but Jongin loves his dummy husband very much anyway, like... he's so clueless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:56:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25297270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoeyBlossom/pseuds/LoeyBlossom
Summary: It's well known to Jongin that Sehun doesn't like cats. That is until their daughter asks to get a pet cat. Sehun can act like he dislikes the animal all he wants... but secretly he's a big ol' softie.
Relationships: Kim Jongin | Kai/Oh Sehun
Comments: 15
Kudos: 69
Collections: Cuddle & Snuggle Round 1





	A Purrfect Family

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt number CS008 for Domestic Sekai Fest
> 
> To the prompter, I had a lot of writing this, so I hope the outcome is pleasing to you. I really do apologize, though, if this isn't what you had in mind. I tried my best.
> 
> To the mods, thank you for running this!! You guys were very sweet and encouraging. I'm glad I participated in this fic fest!! 
> 
> To the readers, I apologize if there are any mistakes within this fic. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this cute, fur filled fic!!

Ever since Jongin and Sehun began dating, Jongin has been aware of Sehun’s distaste towards cats. 

He found this fact out on their very first date when they had talked about a topic they both shared in common: owning pets. They both had dogs at the time, but Jongin also considered the neighborhood stray cats that he fed and befriended to be his pets as well. Sehun had then stated he particularly disliked cats since they seemed too aloof. His family only ever owned dogs, and he preferred it that way.

Jongin was a bit bummed out that the very cute guy he was interested in didn’t share the same love of cats as he did, but everyone was different. 

Jongin was an animal lover. It didn’t matter how many legs it had or if it had scales, fur, or feathers. Any animal was his friend. It’s like how many people don’t view spiders as pets, but young Jongin never understood why they were hated so much. He’d capture them and other crawly bugs to keep as ‘pets’. 

Little Jongin would also always catch frogs and salamanders outside to bring in and show his mother, much to her horror. One time when he was 6 he almost got bit by a snake since he tried to pick it up. Thankfully, his dad was also outside and stopped him before it could strike. Even the squirrels in their backyard he would try to befriend by offering his hands full of food to them. His mother was also not pleased with that.

At the end of the night, 24 year old Jongin decided he really liked that Sehun guy and tried his chances at scoring a second date. A second date then turned into a third, and later, into a tenth, eleventh, and twelfth date.

The number of dates had eventually led up to the moment where Sehun had proposed to Jongin while on vacation in Japan nearly three years after their very first date. A year of wedding planning, then they were officially dubbed as husband and husband. Seven years after that, not only are they known as husbands, they are now known as ‘daddy’ and ‘papa’.

When they had both decided that they were mentally and financially ready enough to care for a child, they decided to go the adoption route. It took a while with all the paperwork and interviews, but it was 110% worth it all. They were able to officially bring home their beautiful 5 year old girl, Seoyeon.

Seoyeon, even though adopted, is like a perfect mix of her parents. Her eyes and cheeks resemble Sehun’s and her nose and ears kinda look like Jongin’s. She’s a respectful little girl like both of them. She’s more on the reserved side, but as bright as even when around people she knows. She also shares a love for animals, much like her papa Jongin. 

This is why one night when they’re all cuddled up on the couch watching TV, Jongin almost bursts out laughing when Seoyeon asks if they can get a cat.

“We are not getting a cat,” Sehun immediately shoots down the idea. 

Many years have passed since Jongin discovered Sehun’s hatred for cats, but his stance on the animal still stands. 

“Why not?” Seoyeon pouts, turning to her daddy to hopefully sway his vote. Her pout resembles Sehun’s so much it hurts Jongin. In his younger years, Sehun would always use his pout to his advantage. In the present, Seoyeon uses hers to get all her wishes. 

“I don’t like cats. They’re mean.”

“How can you say they’re mean?” says the little girl with a raised voice. “You’re mean, daddy!”

Jongin has to muffle his laughter at the shocked expression that appears on his husband’s face when their daughter calls him mean. He knows that Sehun isn’t hurt at all by the exclamation and that the little girl is just upset that she can’t get her way. Jongin has to admit that they might spoil her a little too much…

“Kim Seoyeon, you do not call either of your dads mean. That was uncalled for,” Sehun chastises her. Jongin silently watches, still amused that Sehun was called mean by a 7 year old.

“I’m sorry, daddy,” he hears Seoyeon murmur in apology.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. I love you, just do not say those words again, or else next time you will be in very big trouble.” Sehun, always weak against their daughter, tugs her into his lap and embraces her into his arms, pressing kisses all over her face. She shrieks in delight and begs him to stop since “It tickles, daddy! It tickles!”. Sehun releases her, laughing when the girl takes her spot back in between her fathers.

“Seoyeon-ah,” Jongin calls for her attention. She turns to face her papa, eyes curious. “Daddy and I will talk about getting a cat, but first, you have to be on your very best behavior, okay? Kitties do not like people who do not listen to their parents and are mean to others.”

“I’ll be the nicest person ever!” vows the little girl, a look of determination spreading across her face. Jongin’s heart almost bursts with love for the little girl. It’s been over a year since they brought her to her new home, and he’s still in awe at how amazing she is.

“Pinky promise?” Jongin holds up his pinky finger to her.

“Promise!” Seoyeon wraps her tiny pinky around her papa’s, grinning as they shake pinkies to seal the deal.

“Good, now how about we get you ready for bed?” Jongin unlatches his pinky from hers. It’s nearing 8 pm, which is her bedtime.

“But, papa-” She looks like she is about to protest when Jongin tsks at her.

“Who did I say kitties don’t like?” he reminds the girl. He sees the lightbulb go off in her head before she hops off the couch. 

Jongin chuckles to himself, secretly proud of his way to get Seoyeon to listen to him without arguing. He chances a glance at his husband, but he is met with a ‘grumpy pants’ expression that reads “we need to talk about this”. 

Jongin isn’t fazed. He knows that if their precious little girl wants it, Sehun is going to cave. It might take the next few minutes, the next few days, or even the next few weeks, but Jongin knows deep down he’s going to give up the battle. 

Jongin gets Seoyeon all settled for bed. Though she was already dressed in pajamas, Seoyeon begs her papa to let her change into her purple nightgown that has a white cat with a crown on its head and says ‘I’m purrfect’ in pink loopy writing. Jongin allows it, seeing how excited she is at the thought of getting a cat.

Afterward, Seoyeon brushes her teeth then Jongin tucks her into bed. She snuggles down under her purple, pink, and blue comforter that is covered with rainbows, clouds, and unicorns. Wrapped tightly in her arms is the stuffed bear that Jongin and Sehun had brought her when they first met her to see if she possibly wanted to be adopted by them.

Jongin hears the floor creak. Turning around, he spots Sehun coming into Seoyeon’s room to wish her good night. They both press kisses to her cheek and she gives them each a kiss back on theirs. They say their goodnights and I love yous before Jongin makes sure the night light is on, shutting the door tightly afterward.

“We are not getting a cat,” Sehun states once again, this time not even bothering to hide his disgust. They’re back on the couch, the cartoon they had on for Seoyeon playing a different episode and now serving as background noise.

“Oh, come on.” Jongin can’t help but roll his eyes over how dramatic his husband is being right now. “You’re acting like a cat killed your mother.” Sehun only glares at him. He did not like that one, huh?

“Cat’s are evil. The knock stuff all over the place. They scratch. They don’t like to cuddle.”

“You’ve never even owned a cat. How much time have you spent with a cat?” Jongin is well aware of the negative stigma around cats. While he never personally owned one in his house, the stray cats he befriended all those years ago trusted him enough to let him pet them and he would hear them purr like a motor. If you don’t know how to deal with a cat, of course, you’re going to hate them. They are so different from dogs.

“My best friend in middle school had a cat. I tried to pet it, and it scratched me. It stung like a bitch and bled a lot.” Sehun grimaces as he remembers his horrific cat interaction.

“Where did you try to pet it?” While dogs are pretty much down for being pet anywhere, cats have a few spots that are off limits unless they trust you.

“I don’t know, its stomach?” Sehun shrugs like that piece of information was irrelevant. Jongin sighs at the given answer.

“You idiot, cats hate being touched on their stomach by people that they don’t completely trust. That’s why it scratched you!” Jongin thought that it was pretty much common knowledge to avoid a cat’s stomach unless you are very familiar with it. Sehun honestly thinks cats are the devil all because he didn’t respect the animal’s personal space. This man.

“I thought it liked me! I was always at Chanyeol’s house, so it knew who I was.” Sehun defends himself, a pout on his lips.

“Not the point.” Jongin can’t help another eye roll. He loves Sehun with his entire heart, he really does, but sometimes he isn’t the brightest bulb in the package.

“The point is is that we are not getting a cat.” 

“You’re that against getting a cat all because of something that happened when you were like, what? Thirteen?” 

“I don’t want it to scratch the furniture,” Sehun comes up with another reason. It’s a good point, but Jongin still has solutions to that problem.

“You have to teach it not to do that if it does. Like with a spray bottle full of water. We would have to buy scratchpads for it so it can scratch on those instead. Plus, there are also claw covers. They come in multiple colors. We’re not declawing, though. That’s extremely bad for them,” lists off Jongin. 

His grandparents had a Siamese cat named Coco who tended to claw their couch. His grandmother would spritz her with water and she would go running. The cat also had cardboard boards that she could stand on and scratch the daylights out of. The claw covers he had seen advertised, but he would rather not use those even though they claim to be painless for the cat and swear the cats don’t even notice they are there.

Sehun is staring at him in silence, probably mentally trying to figure out how he can argue further. He goes silent when Jongin makes good points, but due to his stubborn nature, he still tries to find any possible way to get the final word in. His nature has resulted in some terrible fights when they were a newer couple, but, by now, Jongin has learned how to work with it and prevent fights from reaching a catastrophic level. 

“It’s gonna be Seoyeon’s two year anniversary in less than two months,” Jongin says softly. 

By the time everything was finalized and they could bring her home, it was mid-June. That gave them enough time to enroll her in the kindergarten class at the local school and meet her teacher along with a few parents of other students. Thankfully there were no issues with getting her in and she was able to start that coming school year. They might have both cried when they dropped her off on the first day, but that’s beside the point. 

Last year, they held a party for both Seoyeon’s birthday, which is February 6th, and on the date she came to her new home. Her birthday party consisted of a unicorn cake with lots of presents, balloons, sparkly streamers, and a whole lot of love from her parents and other family members.

For Seoyeon’s ‘welcome home’ anniversary party, she wanted to go to the zoo. It was a perfect day for her since a lot of the animals were out in the open. She even got her face painted in cheetah spots and from the gift shop she picked out a pink panda stuffed animal. When they got back home from it, they indulged in ice cream sandwiches, which they used homemade cookies for, and cake and watched all the cartoons she wanted. She was even allowed to stay up past her bedtime.

If Seoyeon wants a cat, it would be a great gift. For the most part, cats are very independent. Seoyeon can learn how to be responsible for her own pet. Jongin knows Sehun knows he made another excellent point with bringing up Seoyeon’s welcome home date, but Jongin can see the stubborn Aries side of him is making an appearance.

“We are not getting a cat!”

“Whatever you say, dear.” Jongin allows the conversation to be dropped. For now. It isn’t over yet since Sehun hasn’t caved, but Jongin knows it’s coming. Sehun gives him a confused glance over how easily he ended the conversation, but there is a glint of suspicion in them. They both know each other so well.

“Daddy, look what I made!” Seoyeon comes running up to Sehun who had just gotten home at 5 pm the next day. Jongin’s job is flexible, so he’s able to leave work first to pick her up from school.

“Hi, sweetheart, what did you make?” Sehun crouches down so he can better view the paper that his daughter is now shoving into his face. He takes the paper from her, holding it still in front of him.

Like any other young child’s drawing, Sehun has to take a moment to process what it’s supposed to be. By now he’s perfected masking his confusion when presented with pictures that are half scribbles and half obtuse shapes. He gazes over it, nodding as he looks like he’s staring at the world’s best piece of art, but let’s be real, anything his daughter draws is artistically amazing in its own way.

“It’s a cat!” she proudly states, watching her one father peer over what she drew today in class.

“It’s very beautiful! I love the colors.”

Now that she mentions it, it does look like a cat. The proportions are a little off and it also has a blue body, yellow, purple, black, and red legs, a green wiggly looking tail, and a pink head. Its eyes are drawn in black, complete with a red nose and brown ears. She even drew whiskers, which look almost as long as the cat’s legs.

“Can I hang it up?” She asks, very clearly proud of her creation.

“Of course, let’s head to the fridge.” First, Sehun takes off his shoes before he follows his daughter into the kitchen. Jongin smiles at him as they pass by the living room, and out of the corner of his eye, he spots him get up to join them.

“Welcome home.” As Seoyeon picks up a flower-shaped magnet from the fridge, he feels a pair of arms wrap around his middle and a kiss against his nape.

“Thanks, I was greeted by our little artist here.” Sehun smiles fondly at their daughter who is now finding a perfect spot to hang her art. It’s a little hard, though, since the fridge is already covered with various other pieces of her art and her dads’ stuff which she is not allowed to touch. 

“Isn’t it amazing? I wish cats in real life were like that. How awesome would that be?”

Sehun knows that Jongin is trying to subtly jab him with mentions of cats. He secretly hoped that Seoyeon had forgotten about her request yesterday, but with today’s artwork, it seems like she still has cats on her brain. 

“That would be super cool if cats were multicolored,” agrees Sehun, only to play along.

“They do have multicolored cats!” Seoyeon announces after she decided to just hang up her rainbow cat over an older drawing that depicted an underwater scene complete with colorful fish, sharks, dolphins, and starfish. 

“Do you remember what they are called?” asks Jongin. A while ago they had gotten her a book about cats where it talked about their history, care for them, and different breeds all simmered down for easy comprehension for little kids. 

“Ummm,” Seoyeon’s face scrunches in concentration, but she looks like she is constipated more than anything. “Calico… and…. turtle shell!” Her face lights up when she remembers, confidently saying her answer even if it’s half wrong.

“It’s pronounced ‘tortoiseshell’,” Jongin pronounces the word slowly so she can understand it, “but, very good job! You’re right! They might be cat breeds with different colors, but white, black, orange, and grey is boring compared to what a cat would look like with blue, pink, purple, and green fur.”

“I want a colorful kitty!” announces Seoyeon. 

“Ah, a calico kitty would be pretty neat to have, huh, Hunnie?” Jongin playfully squeezes his middle in teasing. 

“I told you I don’t want a cat,” Sehun groans, leaning his head back against Jongin’s shoulder as if the conversation is wearing him out. “I’m really not a cat person.”

“Daddy, please?” begs the little girl once again, dragging out ‘please’.

“Yeah, Hunnie, please?” Jongin breathes into his husband’s ear, causing an involuntary shiver to run down his spine. Jongin, that asshole.

“I’ll think about,” he mutters, only to get them both to stop.

“Yay!” Seoyeon runs over to hug her daddy’s leg before she races off back into the living to do god knows what.

“I hate you,” grumbles Sehun, turning around in Jongin’s arms to face him. He obviously doesn’t mean the words and knows Jongin knows that too since there is a huge shit-eating grin on his face. 

“I promise you that cats are not as bad as you’re making them out to be. As long as you treat them right, they can be pretty affectionate.”

While his grandparent’s cat particularly didn't bother him when his family visited them, Jongin frequently saw the cat curled up on his grandfather’s lap, both fast asleep. He would also see his grandfather playing with the cat where it would run out from behind walls and playfully attack him. His grandmother often told his mom about wacky positions Coco slept in when she slept in bed with them. While the cat wasn’t very affectionate towards him, to her owners she was.

Jongin just wants Seoyeon to be happy. Being given up at birth, Seoyeon never knew what it was like to have a loving family until he and Sehun instantly fell in love with her when they first laid eyes on her. They had wanted a kid who was around 8 or 9, but little 3 year old Seoyeon had stolen their hearts and they were very much content with her keeping them. 

He could easily picture Seoyeon cuddled up on the couch between her dads with a cat fit snugly on her lap. Visions of her waving one of those wands with a cat toy attached to the end as she giggled in delight at the cat trying to swat it. His heart began to melt when he finally imagined her asleep in her bed, a big chubby cat curled up with her and could easily blend into the dozens of stuffed animals she has on her bed. 

“I’m not a cat person,” Sehun once again states. 

“Mmhmm,” Jongin hums before he lets go of Sehun in order to start pulling out pots and dishes so he can begin making dinner.

“We’re not getting a cat.” He hears Sehun say warningly behind him.

“Mmhmm.” Jongin blows off his husband as he pulls out a pot he needs, making extra clatter to cover up the sound of his husband’s useless babble. He’s going to give in. Tonight is not that night, though.

Over the next two weeks, Sehun is bombarded with cat related items. 

First, Seoyeon picked up a book all about cats from the school library and wanted Sehun to help her read it. Then, when out shopping one day, Seoyeon came across a coloring book full of cartoon cats. Jongin bought it for her and then spent that night coloring and tearing out the pages to hang up. Two days ago, Jongin’s one sister came over with clothes she bought that she thought Seoyeon would adore. One shirt consisted of a ‘mercat’, which was just a grey cat with an aqua mermaid tail. Colorful bubbles and seashells were decorated all around it.

All around him Sehun seemed to be surrounded by cats. Jongin also had taken notice of the sudden influx of cat-themed stuff. Sehun had even asked if he put his sister up to purposefully give Seoyeon the cat shirt. Jongin had cackled so loud he had to slap a hand over his mouth in case he accidentally woke their daughter before swearing he didn’t tell anyone in his family about Seoyeon wanting a cat.

It’s clear to Sehun what the universe is trying to tell him, but he does not like it at all.

“How many times do I have to say I really do not like the idea of getting a cat?” 

It’s another night where Seoyeon is peacefully asleep and Sehun and Jongin are sitting on the couch with the TV droning on.

“And how many times do I have to tell you that cats are not bad at all? Really, Hun, for us, a cat would be a much better pet for us to have than a dog.” Jongin has a whole list of pros with very little cons to his mental list.

“Why’s that?” Sehun glances at him, waiting to hear what Jongin has to say. 

“Cats are very independent. With a dog we would have to worry about taking it outside. I guess we could get a dog walker, but that’s a pain to deal with. Same with those indoor fake grass pad things. We’re too busy to really take care of a dog. The cat can just use the litter box whenever it wants and it’s super easy to clean,” explains Jongin.

“Won’t it stink?” Sehun gives him a disapproving face.

“Well, yeah, but not if you clean it out regularly. It’s not that hard. We would also not have to worry about bathing a dog since cats clean themselves. They don’t require lots of toys. You can give them a twist-tie and they’ll be ecstatic,” Jongin continues to list off pros of having a cat.

“A twist-tie?” Sehun appears shocked that a simple twist tie from a bag of bread could be a suitable toy for a cat.

“Yeah, my grandmother’s cat loved them. I watched her bat one around while I was visiting one time. At first, I picked it up to throw it away, but I was yelled at to leave it for the cat.” Jongin laughs at the memories of that spoiled cat. His mother always joked that the cat was his grandparents' new baby and that she and her siblings were forgotten.

“That’s weird.”

“Cats aren’t dogs, Sehun.”

“Where would we even put all the cat stuff?” questions Sehun with a slight glare. Jongin’s eyes light up. He’s already planned this all out.

“Well, for the dishes, we can put it right next to the fridge. For the litterbox, we can place it in the laundry room in the corner. There’s plenty of space in there to squeeze a cat box. Plus, that way it’s more out of the way and won’t stick up the place as much. We can put a scratchpad right there.” Jongin points near the TV where some of Seoyeon’s toys are currently scattered about.

“You’ve really thought all of this out, huh?” Jongin internally parties when he sees defeat creeping across his husband’s features. 

“We can keep all the cat food and treats in that cabinet we don’t use.” Jongin beams, indirectly answering Sehun’s question about how he’s already figured everything out.

“Seoyeon really wants a cat?” Sehun asks in a soft voice, expression melting into a soft stare as he mentions their daughter.

“She does,” Jongin confirms, matching Sehun’s quiet voice. 

“Are we going to get a cat just cause I want nothing more than my daughter to be happy?” Sehun groans, dramatically covering his face with his hands. 

“I dunno, are we?” Jongin has to keep the pure excitement out of his voice as he teases his husband. It only took a few weeks for him to break. In all honesty, Jongin was betting against himself that it would take less time than this, but in the end, he still gave in. 

“I guess we are.” Sehun’s words are mumbled due to his face still being pressed into his palms.

“I promise you won’t regret this.” Jongin leans over to squish Sehun into a hug, repeatedly kissing his hair as his husband wallows in his loss.

“We’re not going to tell her about this. Let’s wait until the eighteenth until we tell her she can get a cat.” Sehun finally raises his head to look at a grinning Jongin. June 18th is the day Seoyeon came home. It’s only late April now. If they tell Seoyeon now that they are allowing her to have a pet, she won’t stop blabbering about it until they plan for her to get one.

“I agree. Plus, we still need to get everything for it.” Jongin is almost bouncing in his seat as he thinks about how Seoyeon will react when they tell her she can get a cat. He can’t wait!

“We’re really getting a cat. All for Seoyeon.” 

“All for Seoyeon.” Jongin leans in, this time pressing a heartfelt kiss to Sehun’s lips. As he pulls away, he speaks again.

“I knew you would give in.”

“Yeah, yeah, I knew I was going to too.”

For the next few weeks, after Seoyeon is tucked into bed, Jongin educates Sehun on how to properly deal with a cat. Sehun thought it was ridiculous that he was receiving lessons about handling cats, but Jongin insisted on teaching him. He doesn’t want Sehun to completely ignore the cat since the cat will catch onto Sehun’s dislike and annoy him on purpose. 

As June 18th inches closer and closer, one Saturday afternoon Jongin and Sehun drop Seoyeon off at Jongin’s sister’s house to have a playdate with Raeon and Rahee. The three often have playdates together. One of Seoyeon’s favorite things to do is go over to play with her cousins. It’s been a little while since they had a playdate, but there’s a deeper meaning for this one. Today, Jongin and Sehun are going out to get everything needed for a cat.

They both agreed that gathering everything beforehand would be way easier than getting stuff the day of. The problem was was that they couldn't bring Seoyeon since she would understand what they’re doing and it would ruin the surprise. That’s why Jongin had called his sister and told her what they were planning. She was happy at the thought of Seoyeon getting her own pet and agreed to watch her as they ran out.

Sehun didn’t want to come shopping and told Jongin he could handle it all himself since he knew what a cat needs better than him. It only took a few ‘not-appropriate-in-front-of-Seoyeon’ touches and words to convince Sehun otherwise. Sehun always caves in.

After saying their farewells to Seoyeon, Jongin drives over to the nearest grocery store to gather the first few items they will need.

“I don’t know what the cat will eat,” fusses Jongin as he gazes over all the various flavors of cat food.

“It’s a cat, it will eat anything,” deadpans Sehun, slightly worried about Jongin’s mental health since it looks like he’s about to have a breakdown over cat food.

“You don’t understand. Cats can dislike stuff too. This one stray cat I fed didn’t like seafood flavored stuff, so I got a new bag just for him.” 

“Okay,” Sehun says hesitantly, standing back with his hands on the cart Jongin dragged along. His childhood dogs never turned their nose up at anything. Cats really are a pain in the ass if they refuse to eat something.

“I guess we can get a few kinds and see which one it likes best.” Jongin grabs three bags of cat food and tosses them into the cart. Sehun stares at him in surprise as his husband then shuffles over to the display of cat treats.

“Does it really need treats?” asks Sehun. Cats don’t do anything. He used treats to reward his dogs for doing tricks and pooping outside. Cats can’t do tricks nor is the cat going to go outside to do its business. Sehun just doesn’t see the point.

“Of course it does.” This time, Jongin only tosses one packet inside which reads ‘party mix’ with flavors of chicken, steak, salmon, and cheese. Cheese? What the-

“The cat will love catnip!” Jongin takes another packet off the shelf. Sehun knows enough about the plant that apparently cats absolutely go nuts over the stuff. He internally groans when Jongin adds it to the cart, not liking the thought of a cat running around like a maniac high off catnip.

“We can get these and see if it will play with them.” Jongin turns his attention to the toys. He reaches for a three pack of balls. One has a little bell inside of it, one is made of yarn, and the other makes a crackling noise.

“What if it doesn’t?” Sehun wonders. He thinks back to when Jongin told him about how his grandmother’s cat entertained itself with a measly twist tie. If cats will play with whatever the hell they want, why does it need real toys?

“Then it’s whatever. They don’t cost that much.” Jongin shrugs, tossing the cat toys into the cart.

“Alright, if you say so.” Sehun knew Jongin would be doing most of the shopping and he’d just be here for ‘support’. He can pretend to be bored and uninterested all he wants, but deep down, seeing his husband so excited picking out stuff for the cat makes his heart all soft and mushy.

After they leave the grocery store, they head to the pet store. There they have to pick up the other needed items that they couldn’t get at the other store. When they walk in with a cart, a worker greets them and asks if they need any help. Jongin responds with a ‘no, thank you’ before he drags Sehun off to the area where a ‘CAT’ sign is hanging above.

“We need dishes for it.” Jongin’s eyes the shelves where they have all kinds of dishes. Some are ceramic and others are stainless steel or plastic. Some are just one color while others have cute designs all over them.

“Okay, here.” Sehun goes for the basic stainless steel dishes that he always used for his dogs.

“Sehunnie,” Jongin whines right as said male places them into the cart. “That's so boring. The cat deserves better.”

“Oh, sorry, sorry.” Again, Jongin knows what to get more than him. Sehun decides it’s just easier to stand back as Jongin compares each option. He shakes his head at a few, narrowing down his choices one by one. 

“Okay, how about these ones?” Jongin rearranges the bowls so that there are three that stand out.

“Uh, it doesn’t matter to me.” It really doesn’t matter to Sehun. As long as the cat can eat and drink out of them, he really does not care about its design. The cat isn’t going to appreciate the design anyway.

“Come on, I just want to know which one you like better. I can’t decide!” Jongin gives him puppy eyes. Sehun knows by now that Jongin will be here for the rest of the day and into the night if he really does not offer up his opinion. Half the time, Jongin picks the opposite of what Sehun says, but it at least hurries things along.

With a light sigh, Sehun looks over the three bowls that Jongin is torn between. One looks ceramic and has that Pusheen cat that Seoyeon enjoys all over it. The one next to that is stainless steel with little cat faces and fishes decorating it. The last one is simply shaped like a paw print. He would rather just go for the stainless steel ones that have zero patterns on it, but Jongin will refuse to bring those into the house.

“Uh, the Pusheen one is very cute. Seoyeon will love the design,” he voices his thoughts out loud. Jongin smiles widely. Seems like Sehun picked right.

“I thought that too. They’re a little out there, but you’re right. Seoyeon will love these for the cat.” He picks up two bowls along with a plastic placemat that just says ‘meow’ on it.

“Okay, we still need a litter box, litter, and a scratchpad.” 

They spend a few minutes gathering everything else they need. Thankfully, Jongin doesn’t need Sehun’s input into anything else that needed to be bought. The only other struggle is that Jongin wanted to buy a cat tree but then decided against it once he remembered his grandparents bought one for their cat and it never used it. His grandmother always complained about that.

When they check out, they head back home to stash everything so Seoyeon can’t see it. They manage to stuff the cabinet they don’t use with the dishes, food, treats, and toys. The litter box and litter they already set up in the laundry room since Seoyeon isn’t allowed in there, so she won’t find the items. The scratchpad they have to hide under their bed since it's too large to fit in the cabinet with everything else.

When they pick up Seoyeon, Sehun says his hellos to Raeon and Rahee. Before he knows it, he’s being dragged straight into the middle of a game of pretend. Jongin speaks in hushed voices with his sister over how the shopping went, taking all precautions to not spoil the surprise even though he’s sure his daughter can’t hear him from feet away. He promises his noona that she can come over and visit the cat once it’s settled down. 

All in all, the day was very successful. Jongin and Sehun sit contentedly on their couch as Seoyeon sleeps soundly tucked in her bed. Their daughter had a wonderful time with her cousins and her fathers managed to gather everything needed for their future family member. Now, all they need is for June 18th to finally come around.

“Happy welcome home day, princess!” Sehun and Jongin greet Seoyeon with lots of kisses as they wake her up. Though she just woke up, long black hair all tangled from sleeping, her eyes are glimmering and she has a bright smile.

“Thank you, daddy! Thank you, papa!” She giggles out when they both can’t help peppering her face with a hundred more smooches.

“Today we’re going to take you to a very special place, but first, we have to eat some breakfast. How’s that sound?” Jongin asks the little girl, who is bouncing in excitement at the mention of a trip.

“Sounds good!” 

“Then let’s go, princess.” Sehun scoops her up from her bed. She laughs when her daddy spins around a few times.

“Ugh, I’m getting old,” Sehun jokes when his body stops spinning, but his vision does not for a second. 

“You’re not old, daddy,” protests Seoyeon with a grumpy pout on her lips.

“Thank you for the reassurance, sweetheart.” Sehun laughs, Jongin laughing as well behind him at his husband. 

Sehun carries Seoyeon to the living room where he automatically puts on her morning cartoons. He then joins his husband in the kitchen where Jongin is already pulling out pancake mix and a bottle of sprinkles. Seoyeon loves funfetti pancakes with strawberries.

In no time, the pancakes are made and each of them eats their fill. Jongin gets ready for going out first as Sehun helps Seoyeon pick out an outfit. Since it’s summer now, so Seoyeon goes for a sundress that has flowers on it. Once Jongin is done getting ready, they trade places with Jongin keeping an eye on Seoyeon. She’s practically vibrating in excitement when Sehun announces he’s officially ready to go.

“We’re almost there!” sings song Jongin into the backseat where Seoyeon is.

“Yay!” The little girl claps excitedly. 

“Your destination is on the right,” the GPS voices out. Jongin and Sehun both have an idea where the shelter is located, but didn’t fully know the way, hence the need for navigation. Sehun pulls into the parking lot, finding a spot then cutting the engine.

“Here we are!” Sehun announces to the little girl over the raucous sounds of dogs barking. He helps her out of her car seat. Seoyeon looks towards where the barking is coming from. When she does so, she spots a fenced-in area where a few cats are relaxing in beds.

“Are we at an animal shelter?” she asks, eyes wide in disbelief. 

“Surprise!” Jongin shouts, his smile spreading from ear to ear. “You get to pick out your own cat!”

“Really?” Seoyeon looks up at her papa, eyes still rounded.

“It’s your present,” Sehun explains, clasping his daughter’s hand into his as all three of them make their way to the entrance. 

“Hello, good morning!” welcomes a woman who instantly glances up from her computer as the bell above the door jingles.

“Good morning,” Jongin answers back kindly. 

“Anything I can help you with?” the lady asks, standing up to properly talk to the visitors. Her name tag reveals she is named Jisoo.

“We’re looking to adopt a cat today,” explains Jongin. When hearing him, the woman’s eyes light up.

“Excellent! The room right here is one of our cat rooms.” She motions to the door that is right next to the entrance that has a sign warning to watch for the cats and to make sure none escape. “Another room is right there where you probably saw the outdoor area we have for them.” She points behind the couple. “We have another cat room straight down the hall, but that is mainly where we keep our cats who have special needs. Feel free to still look at them, though. All of them are lovely cats.”

“Thank you so much,” Jongin continues all the talking as Sehun has to wrangle in Seoyeon so she doesn’t bolt straight into the cat room.

“If you need any help or have any questions, feel free to find me or any of our other staff members. My name is Jisoo.” 

“We will, thank you.”

“Great! Happy looking! I hope you find your new furry best friend today.”

Instead of giving a verbal answer, Jongin gives her a warm smile. They decide to just start with the room that they are closest to. Sehun opens the door, allowing Seoyeon to slip in first before holding the door open just enough so Jongin can get in too. 

Inside the room, to no one's surprise, they are surrounded by cats of all sizes, colors, and patterns. 

“There’s so many!” Seoyeon squeals, immediately plopping onto the floors so that the curious cats can sniff her.

“Sweetie, don’t be so loud, please,” chastises Sehun gently, already wary of the cats that are swarming his feet sniffing at his shoes and pant legs. “You don’t want to accidentally scare them by being too loud.”

“Sorry, kitties,” Seoyeon apologizes in a significantly smaller voice, softly patting a tabby cat that has come up to her.

The room has various kinds of cat trees and condos for the cats to lounge and hide in. The same kind of balls that Jongin bought at the store litter the floor along with a few stuffed mice. One side is lined with freshly cleaned litter boxes while another has food and water bowls. Some of the cats barely pay any mind to the humans and continue to nap while some eye them warily.

“They have a book with all their info.” Jongin picks up a laminated book that is hanging on a hook right beside the door. He flips through it to examine it. Each page contains a picture of a cat, its name, sex, and age, how long they’ve been there/ their story, and some little ‘fun facts’.

“Nice,” is all Sehun says, refusing to move any more than he has too. Seoyeon is having the time of her life, crawling around the floor trying to pet as many cats as she can. She pouts when one runs away from her, but one that wants attention is quick to replace the timid cat.

“Hi, kitties,” coos Jongin, settling onto the floor crisscross. A dark brown cat and a white one come over to sniff at him. Jongin pets the cats for a second before leafing through the book. “You guys must be Mocha and Snowball.”

“This one really likes me!” Seoyeon giggles, a black cat in her lap as it rubs its face along her arm. On its chest is a single splash of white. 

“He sure does!” Jongin beams at his daughter. He goes back to the cat descriptions in search of the cat. “Oh, I’m sorry. She. Her name is Midnight.”

Sehun watches the cat fit snugly into Seoyeon’s arms. It’s quite an adorable sight. He’s never seen a cat bother with a human that much before. Maybe Jongin was right and that cats can be affectionate. 

“Come on, Hunnie. Sit down. They’re not gonna bite you. You just have to be gentle,” urges Jongin. From where he’s sitting he reaches up to tug onto his husband’s hand to get him to settle down. Sehun hesitates, but he allows Jongin to pull him to the floor. He copies Jongin, sitting criss cross in the middle of the cat room.

Sehun stiffens when he feels a cat place its front paws on his thigh. He half expects for the devil to be unleashed and the cat’s claws to dig into his skin. However, it doesn’t happen. Instead, Jongin leans over to allow the calico cat to sniff at his fingers before it bows its head and Jongin begins to rub it.

“See, they’re not bad. Not all cats are assholes, Sehun.” He whispers the sentence since he doesn’t want Seoyeon to pick up on any more curse words. 

Just five months into bringing her home, Sehun had accidentally stubbed his toe and reflexively let out a string of curse words. Seoyeon, not knowing any better in all her tiny glory, had soon begun to repeat what her daddy had said that one time. Needless to say, it took a loooong time to teach her that what Sehun had said was not appropriate and that she will get into trouble if she says those words again. In other news, Jongin is a few won richer all thanks to the anti swear jar he had implemented to make sure something like that never happened again.

“I still don’t trust them,” he mutters stubbornly, allowing the calico cat to climb into his lap now so it can get closer to Jongin.

“What’s your name?” he asks the cat as if it will respond. With one hand still petting the cat, he, once again, flips through the book. “Ah, Sundae.”

“That’s kind of a cute name” Sehun confesses, looking down at a patch of orange on the cat that kinda looks like the shape of an apple.

“I think so too,” Jongin coos at the cat, still giving it lots of pets.

“Papa, what’s this one named?” Seoyeon calls out from the other side of the room. The black cat is gone and now a grey cat is draped in her arms. This one has long hair that looks incredibly soft.

“Prince,” Jongin reads from its page. Prince is a male that’s been there since October of 2017 and is only 5 years old. He was found when a local was taking out their trash and found him ripping open a garbage bag for food. According to the book, he really loves string toys.

“My daddy and papa call me princess. Maybe you can be my prince!” Seoyeon kisses the cat's head. The cat doesn’t seem to enjoy that since it wiggles out of her arms and bolts away from her. Seoyeon’s arms drop in defeat, bottom lip jutting out. Sehun can already see the tears springing into her eyes.

“He doesn’t like me!” she starts to cry, little sobs escaping her mouth.

“Oh, no, honey, it’s okay.” Jongin scrambles up from the floor so he can get to his daughter. “Prince probably didn’t like you kissing him since he doesn’t know you very well. I’m sure some kitty here will love kisses.” He attempts to soothe Seoyeon.

“Is everything alright? I heard crying.” Jisoo pops her head into the room, a look of concern on her face.

“Yeah, one of the cats just didn’t like being given a kiss,” explains Sehun. Thankfully, it only took a minute or so to calm Seoyeon down from her miniature breakdown. 

“Ah, you have to be careful with some of them,” warns the worker. “Some of them don’t like being touched in certain spots. I sincerely apologize if one of them lashes out or anything.”

“We’ll be alright. The cat just jumped out of her arms.” The cat is lucky he didn’t scratch Seoyeon or else it would have been a showdown between Kim Sehun and Mr. Prince the cat. 

“It happens. I’m glad everything is alright.” Jisoo shuts the door after she nudges a cat back in that tried to sneak out.

“How about we go look in the other room?” Jongin suggests once Seoyeon is fully calmed down. When she nods her head, Jongin lifts her up. Seeing that they are moving, Sehun picks up the abandoned informational book to hang it back up. He opens the door for Jongin again, letting him go out first as he gives one last glare to Prince who is now peacefully grooming himself on top of a post. 

They enter into the second cat room which is much like the first one. Various toys everywhere, lots of climbing trees where they can be up high and also hide in. Litter on one side and food on the other. The biggest difference is that this room is bigger, has an outdoor area, and there are also cages inside with cats in a few of them.

“Why are they in there?” Seoyeon questions as she points to the few cats that are locked up, her drama from 5 minutes ago long forgotten. 

“It looks like they have a special diet, so they have to be in there so the other cats don’t eat their food.” Sehun looks over the tags that hang from each cage. All of them require some certain food or they are on medication which is mixed into the food. 

“Oh, so can they come out to play?” Seoyeon asks, standing on her tiptoes to peer better into one of the cages.

“I’m sure once they finish their food they will be allowed to.” Sehun just guesses that’s the case. Some of the cats are still eating or still have portions left in their food bowl.

“Good.” Seoyeon drops back down onto flat feet to focus on playing with the cats.

“Found another.” Jongin picks up the laminated book for that room and starts looking through it. Sehun keeps his eyes on Seoyeon as she says hello to each of the cats that allow her to pet them. He startles when he feels a bump against his arm.

“Oh, hello.” Sehun blinks down in surprise at a grey and white cat that’s standing on top of the cat tree right next to him.

“MEOW!” 

Sehun’s startles at the cat’s unexpected noise. When they first walked into the second room there were a few meows, but none of them were as loud as that. Jongin can’t help but laugh at the shocked face of his husband.

“Well, aren’t you a loud one.” Jongin turns his attention to the feline, reaching out his fingers for the cat to sniff. To his surprise, the cat completely ignores him and continues to stare only at Sehun. It meows loudly again, reaching out to paw at Sehun’s arm.

“What- what does it want?” whispers Sehun, not knowing how to handle this. He sounds like he’s facing a wild, hungry tiger that will maul him to death instead of a little housecat.

“To be pet, duh. Reach out your hand so it can sniff you first before you do so.”

Sehun listens to his husband, tentatively extending his fingers so the cat can sniff him. However, instead of sniffing, the cat immediately shoves the top of its head into Sehun’s palm. It brings its head up, Sehun’s hand sliding down its neck due to the action.

“She really likes you. Her name is Luna,” Jongin reads off once he finds the correct cat’s picture. “Came here in May 2019 and is two years old. She was just your average stray. It also says- oh. Interesting.”

“What?” Sehun turns to try and read the page over Jongin’s shoulder. His hand slips away, but not even a second later, there is another attention grabbing meow and a paw tapping his arm.

“It says she’s really shy and it might take a little while for her to warm up to you, but when she does, she’s very lovable.” Jongin lifts up his eyes from the book to the feline that is practically begging for attention. 

“Seems she really likes you,” he observes. Sehun, to stop the cat from further annoying him, is back to gently petting her head. The cat seems to be loving the attention, but Sehun still feels like he’s playing in a minefield. He remembers when Chanyeol’s cat had turned against him and clawed his hand up.

“I’m sure she likes you too,” Sehun insists. He lifts his hand away from the cat.

“She completely ignored me.” Jongin tries again with reaching his hand out. Like the first time, the cat dismisses it and turns her head back to Sehun. 

“MEOW!”

“See, she doesn’t like me.” Jongin giggles again at the surprise on Sehun’s face.

“I don’t even like cats,” whines Sehun as he willingly puts his hand back on Luna’s head. 

“You’re gonna have to convince me harder with that one when you’re petting a cat, even though no one is holding a gun to your head,” Jongin calls him out on his actions. He’s deeply amused that Luna has taken quite the fancy towards Sehun.

“Daddy! Papa! Come here! Look at this cat!” Seoyeon calls from the other end of the room. Sehun is glad for the excuse to leave the cat as he and Jongin join Seoyeon who is petting an extremely fat cat lounging in a cat bed.

“He’s so big,” Seoyeon giggles, stroking over the orange cat’s fur.

“He needs a serious diet,” comments Sehun. Right after he says the words, he feels another nudge against his arm. Again, it’s Luna staring up at him, yellow eyes gleaming. 

“MEOW!”

“She followed you over here,” says Jongin in awe. The cat is standing up on another cat tree, trying to catch Sehun’s attention. 

“You’re a cute kitty.” Seoyeon pauses in petting the fat cat so she can pet the new one. Much like with Jongin, Luna dismisses Seoyeon’s pets. 

“He doesn’t like me either!” Seoyeon frowns again when she’s rejected. 

“She sure likes daddy, though. Look at them.” Jongin points to how Luna is rubbing her face all over Sehun’s hand again, obviously very pleased even with the bare minimum Sehun is putting into petting her.

“Wow, she does like you, daddy.” Seoyeon watches the pair with a shocked expression. “I think she’s purring!”

Sure enough, Sehun can feel the vibrations of the cat’s purr. Chanyeol’s cat had purred a few times when he had pet it. Sehun knows that means they are happy. Hopefully, this means that Luna won’t suddenly attack him. He’ll just keep doing what makes the cat happy and not try anything else.

“I don’t think I’ve heard a cat purr that loud before.” Jongin is honestly in shock at what is happening. His husband who has sworn up and down that he does not like cats is willingly petting one, causing it to purr so loud it sounds like a small motor. 

“Are you sure?” Sehun meets Jongin’s eyes in surprise. He isn’t doing anything special to the cat, so there shouldn’t be a reason as to why its purr is so strong.

“I’m sure.”

“Oh.” It’s Sehun’s turn to frown down at Luna wondering why the hell she is so infatuated with him.

“Ooooh, papa, look at that cat!” The ever short attention span of a young child causes Seoyeon to become distracted with a cat that is walking in from the outdoor portion of the room. She wanders over to the feline, dropping down onto the floor so that she can pet it. 

“It’s a very pretty kitty,” comments Jongin as he watches his daughter. The cat is black and white. The white spans all across its chest and even has white paws that make it look like it has little boots on.

“He’s cute,” Sehun adds in a compliment, hand still absentmindedly stroking along Luna's head.

“MEOW!”

Sehun’s attention automatically turns to the cry of the cat he’s petting, eyes widening in surprise. He reflexively moves his hand away from her thinking he did something she didn’t like, but she only paws at his hand again. Jongin bursts out into laughter so hard he bends over for a few seconds.

“I don’t think she liked you calling another cat cute,” says Jongin once he can breathe again.

“I probably just pet her wrong,” Sehun mutters. He still continues to pet the cat since it seems if he stops, he’ll be pestered into continuing.

“Mmhmm.” Jongin gives his husband another knowing look, causing Sehun to glare right back.

They spend another 10 or so minutes in the second cat room. Seoyeon has her fill of petting every single cat in reach minus the ones that are locked in the cages. Though, Jongin does lift her up to let her stick her fingers through the bars so she can give some attention to those cats.

The rest of the time in the room, Luna seemed to be attached to Sehun like glue. No matter where he went inside the room, the cat was only a few steps behind him. Even as they left to check out the final cat room, Luna attempted to sneak out with the family. Sehun had to beg the cat to stay inside the room. As if she understood, she let out a light meow and walked away.

The last cat room is mostly filled with cages that contain cats. Like Jisoo stated, many of the cats inside the room have special needs. Most of them require special diets, medication, or have medical conditions that require great care for.

There are a few cats that are roaming about. From what they can see, some have only three legs or a missing eye. Seoyeon goes on about how she feels bad for the poor handicapped kitties, but she makes sure to give the ones she can play with lots of love. She eventually deems that she likes the black and white one that was in the previous room the most.

The cat’s name is Cookie. She’s 4 years old and arrived at the shelter in January of 2020. In her description, it says that she was given up by her family since they were moving and the new housing establishment allowed no pets. That explains why the cat was so friendly with Seoyeon when she petted it, she is already used to human interaction.

“Hello,” starts out Jongin to catch Jisoo’s attention as she is done talking to another worker who is holding cleaning supplies.

“Hello, do you need any help?” she asks kindly, turning her attention to the male.

“Yes, we found a cat we would like to adopt.”

“That’s great to hear!” Jisoo’s face lights up in pure joy. “Let me get you some paperwork.” She leads Jongin back over to the front desk where she takes a few seconds to gather some papers. She then hands him a clipboard and a pen.

“Which cat are you looking to adopt?” She wonders as Jongin’s eyes roam over the adoption form.

“Cookie from the second room.” He can easily fill out all the information without Sehun’s help since his husband is back in the second cat room with Seoyeon.

“Oh, she is an absolute sweetheart. She must have really attached to your daughter. The family that dropped her off had a little girl around her age. It broke my heart to see her say goodbye to the cat.” Jisoo frowns at the memory. Jongin’s heart clenches at hearing the poor cat’s story. 

“That’s so sad,” murmurs Jongin. 

“You’re the first one to fill out an adoption form for her, so if you get approved, I am sure you will be able to take her home.” Jisoo winks at him. 

Jongin spends a few minutes filling out the entire form. When it’s complete, he hands the clipboard back to Jisoo who promises that within the next few days they will receive a call if their request to adopt was accepted or not. Jongin thanks her profusely before going to collect his husband and daughter.

“Well?” Sehun asks as they’re leaving the building. The entire time they were back in the cat room, Luna would, once again, not leave him alone. He spent his time petting the cat as Seoyeon played with Cookie and told her about how much fun it will be to come home with them.

“She said she will give us a call in a few days to let us know whether or not we can adopt her or not.”

“Ah, guess we could have waited a bit to get everything for it, huh?” 

“Yeah, guess we could have.”

“Why can’t we bring kitty home today?” Seoyeon pouts, now upset that they can’t bring home Cookie right away.

“It’s just the way this works, I’m sorry sweetheart,” explains Jongin. “The worker lady said that we were the first ones to put in an adoption request for her, so the chances of us getting her are high.”

“Good, cause I really like her.”

The next four days after their visit, Seoyeon constantly asks about a hundred times each day if they can bring home Cookie yet. It has been tiring and slightly annoying to her parents over her constant repeating of the same question, but they understand that she is super eager to know if Cookie can come home to them or not. 

Thankfully, Wednesday is the day where Jongin receives a call from the shelter. Jisoo congratulates him for their adoption application being accepted. Jongin almost shouts in happiness when he hears Jisoo tell him they can bring Cookie home today if that’s convenient for them. Jisoo also informs him that Cookie was giving a checkup to make sure she is 100% healthy before she goes home with them. After he profusely thanks Jisoo and tells her that they will pick her up today, he ends the call then immediately texts Sehun the good news. 

Sehun only responds with a ‘good to hear’, but what surprises Jongin is the sentence after it. Sehun had mentioned that they don’t even have a pet carrier. 

Jongin wants to smack himself for forgetting something like that. Sure, a cardboard box could handle a cat, but he thinks they wouldn’t look like good pet parents if they show up at the shelter with just a box with an old towel stuffed into it to transport Cookie. Plus, they can’t just take an open box with them to vet appointments. Cookie could easily get out and cause mayhem.

Before he even has a chance to respond to Sehun’s observation, he receives another text from his husband that he can stop by a pet store and pick one up. Blown away again, Jongin decides to let it be and agrees to Sehun buying a carrier.

Once Jongin finishes work, he heads over to his parent’s house. Since both he and Sehun work, they alternate between his parents and Sehun’s since both sets of Seoyeon’s grandparents, thankfully, live not too far away from their respected sons. When Jongin’s sister has off days, she offers to watch Seoyeon where she can have the company of her cousins to entertain her.

Of course, the first thing Seoyeon asks when Jongin walks through the door is about Cookie. This time, when her papa grins widely instead of answering “no, not yet” the little girl tugs and pulls to get him to leave faster, almost forgetting to say goodbye to her grandparents.

Sehun still has a few hours left to return home, so they still have to wait a bit till they leave to get Cookie. Seoyeon is bouncing off the walls in excitement, dancing around and singing odes to the cat even when it’s not even here yet.

To occupy her, Jongin allows her to help set up the cat’s food and water bowls, litter, and toys. Seoyeon, as predicted, loves the Pusheen bowls that they picked out. She fills each bowl herself and places it where Jongin planned for them to be. She sets down the cardboard scratchpad and sprinkles the toy balls around so the cat can easily see them. Though Jongin has to pour the litter into the box since the container is too heavy for Seoyeon, she has the very important job of placing the lid to the litter box back in place.

When Sehun finally arrives home, black pet carrier in hand, Seoyeon attempts to push both her fathers straight out of the door. Sehun laughs, urging her to calm down and promising that in a few minutes they will be on their way to Cookie. He just wants to spend a bit of time dressing out of his work clothes into more comfortable ones. When he deems himself ready, Seoyeon practically bolts to the front door, bouncing on her heels in pure excitement.

“Welcome back!” greets Jisoo when the door tinkles and reveals the family.

“We’re here to get Cookie!” announces Seoyeon. Jisoo smiles down at her fondly. 

“Yes, you are. She’s excited to go home with you guys. Follow me, please.” Jisoo comes out from the back of the counter. She heads into the cat room where Cookie is, all of them trailing behind.

“Cookie!” sings the worker as she searches for the feline amongst the dozen that gather at her feet.

“MEOW!” a familiar loud meow can be heard over the other cats’ begging for attention from Jisoo.

“Hello, Luna,” she greets the cat that is climbing up a post right next to her. She reaches out to stroke along her back, but the cat completely dismisses her. Instead, she settles right into Sehun’s view.

“Hey, look, Hunnie. It’s your buddy,” points out Jongin who then laughs. The grey and white cat extends a paw to Sehun, much like the previous times.

“Hi, kitty.” Sehun has no choice but to pet the cat again like he’d done the last time he was here. Jongin, Jisoo, and even Seoyeon watch for a few seconds as the cat rubs against Sehun’s hand. He feels a tad uncomfortable with all the attention on him, but he knows that if he stops, he will be meowed at until he starts again.

“I’ve never seen her so friendly before,” Jisoo murmurs, almost as if it’s to just herself. She then continues in a louder voice, “I guess she’s finally coming around after being here for a year. That’s great! Now, let’s find Cookie.”

Jisoo wanders further into the enclosure to find their new family member. Though the worker dismisses the cat’s odd fascination with Sehun, Jongin sends him a knowing look. Sehun can only glare back at how his husband thinks this cat is uber attached to him, all the while still petting the cat. Sehun’s getting a sense of Déjà vu. 

“Here she is, the pretty girl!” happily announces Jisoo with the cat cradled in her arms. Seoyeon squeals in joy when she bends down to allow her to pet Cookie.

“You’re coming home with us now, Cookie. You’ll love it! We got you lots of toys, and we got you catnip, too!” Seoyeon babbles to the cat. Jisoo laughs in amusement at the little girl, straightening up so she can slip Cookie into the carrier that Jongin is holding.

“Just a few more things and you’ll be on your way, okay?” Jisoo turns to open the door.

“MEOW!” 

“‘I’m sure you’ll get adopted. If you’re this nice to someone else, I’m sure they will take you home in a heartbeat,” Sehun assures Luna, giving her some last pets. “Goodbye.” He gives the cat’s head one last ruffle before he follows his family out of the door. 

With a last farewell to Cookie from Jisoo and the other workers, they are on their way back home. Jongin places the carrier in the backseat with Seoyeon so she can keep an eye on her as they make the drive back. Once they arrive home, Jongin gently picks up the carrier and walks up the steps to their home as if he’s carrying a glass box.

“Welcome to the Kim household, Cookie,” announces Jongin when Sehun unlocks the door and allows him to step inside first. They all take off their shoes at the front, Sehun having to take the cat from Jongin so he can easily remove his shoes.

“Welcome home!” Seoyeon says as Cookie slowly creeps out of her carrier. 

Jongin had set her on the floor and simply unzipped the carrier so that she could come out on her own terms. Sehun warned Seoyeon to back up a little bit so that the cat wouldn’t feel suffocated, so there she sits, a few feet away watching the cat crawl out.

“Just let her be,” gently reminds Jongin when his daughter starts to shuffle towards the cat. Seoyeon abruptly stops in her spot. 

Everyone remains silent as Cookie fully emerges from the carrier. She takes her time sauntering around, sniffing at everything. It’s going to take some time for her to get used to her new home, but it probably beats staying at the shelter.

For the rest of the night, they allow Cookie to explore on her own. They avoid bothering the cat too much, opting for letting her come to them when she willingly wants to. The concept is difficult for Seoyeon to grasp since all she wants to do is play with the kitty, but her fathers are there to warn her when she attempts to run up and pet her.

As Sehun is preparing dinner a little bit later, out of the corner of his eye, he spots Cookie sauntering in and wandering over to her food dishes. He looks over when he hears crunching and sees the cat happily eating. He’s already seen her bat around a few toys and give the scratchpad a test. Deep down, he’s happy to see the cat settling in nicely.

Sehun must think Jongin is the biggest dumbass if he doesn’t think that he hasn’t picked up on Sehun’s behavior.

It’s been two weeks since they brought Cookie home. While she is still getting a feel out for her new environment, she has come around a lot more and has been letting her three new humans pet her.

The first time she hopped up on the couch as they were all sitting on it was four days after her arrival. Sehun almost had a heart attack when she did so. He was surprised by the cat’s sudden appearance and stayed still as Jongin and Seoyeon happily stroked her fur. 

Soon enough, Cookie walked across their laps so she could request pets from Sehun. He had, of course, given in to the cat. To his shock, the cat then settled into his lap and stayed there for about half an hour before she jumped off to do god knows what. Sehun didn’t dare move a muscle in case he would upset her.

Something must have changed inside Sehun that night since every time Cookie begs for attention now, he’s more willing to pet her and he doesn’t complain about it. One day, Jongin had praised his husband for how nice he’s been to Cookie, which caused Sehun to flush and mutter about how he wasn’t going to be a dick to their new cat. Jongin knows all too well that Sehun is just a huge sofite.

“Get the ball!” Jongin swears he hears a not so subtle whisper coming from their hallway. It’s Sehun’s turn to take care of the laundry, so he must be coming back from placing the clothes in their and Seoyeon’s bedrooms. 

Curiosity getting the better of him, Jongin carefully rises from the couch. Seoyeon is in her own little world playing with her dolls, so she doesn’t notice when her papa stealthily creeps out of the living room. He peeks his head around the corner and what he sees spreads loving warmth across his entire chest and a smile so big it hurts. 

He spots his husband crouched down, rolling the yarn ball down the hallway. Cookie chases after the ball and starts batting it around when it comes to a stop. He watches as Sehun lets out a silent laugh before he stands up to collect it. 

“‘I don’t like cats’,” Jongin says in a mocking voice just as Sehun bends back down to pick up the ball.

Sehun jumps, eyes growing wide as he makes eye contact with his husband. Jongin can’t help but laugh at the expression on the other’s face. It looks like Sehun was caught cheating instead of playing with the cat that he claimed he didn’t want. 

“Oh, um, hi, Jongin,” Sehun says, embarrassed that he was caught. 

“Hunnie, you don’t have to keep up the act that you don’t like cats.” Jongin laughs again at his poor husband who is still flustered. When Cookie’s meow interrupts them, they look down at the cat who wants her ball back. Sehun tosses it to the other end of the hallway, Cookie skittering right after it.

“Okay, maybe I like having the cat around,” mutters Sehun, the words so muffled that Jongin can barely pick them apart.

“Huh? What was that? Couldn’t hear you, dear,” Jongin teases, a playful grin forming. He pulls Sehun, who is avoiding his eye, into a hug and sways him from side to side.

“Having Cookie isn’t so bad,” Sehun says clearly this time. 

“You act all tough, but you are just as soft as Seoyeon,” murmurs Jongin, incredibly pleased that Sehun admitted to liking the cat. 

“I feel so stupid,” groans Sehun, sagging against Jongin so the other male has to support his weight. 

“Hey, sometimes it just takes the right animal to change your mind.” 

Jongin is all too familiar with those viral videos of ‘my dad didn’t want a pet, but now look at them’. They’re incredibly cute, mostly consisting of said dad babying the pet he claimed he never wanted. He knows Sehun is too much of a soft-hearted person to ever really have any kind of hatred towards any kind of animal.

“I’m still kinda scared that she’s gonna claw my hand off, though,” Sehun admits a second later.

“Nah, you’re fine. Just don’t touch her belly.” 

“If she claws me, I’m kicking you out of the house.”

“Hmm… people usually say that about the animal, not the person. Seems like you really do like Cookie.”

“Oh, shut up.”

Sehun’s and Cookie’s friendship only grows from there. Sehun poorly conceals his obvious newfound fondness for the feline, but Jongin and even their 7 year old daughter easily pick up on it.

“Do you want more food?” Sehun coos to Cookie who is meowing at him from her food bowl. When he receives a loud meow in response he drops the cup he’s washing onto the drying rack then walks over after drying his hands.

“Which kind do you want, Cookie?” Sehun pulls out the three bags of cat food they have and places them all in front of her. She sniffs at each one before rubbing her face against a bag.

“Ah, indoor delights. Excellent choice.” Sehun opens the bag that contains flavors of chicken, salmon, cheese, and garden greens. He tips the food in and she starts scoffing it down like she’s been starved.

“Daddy, are you talking to Cookie?” asks Seoyeon who wanders into the kitchen. 

“I was just giving her more food.” Sehun still doesn’t want to acknowledge out loud that he likes having the cat around a lot more than he admitted to Jongin not long ago.

“It’s okay, papa and I both know you secretly love Cookie,” Seoyeon giggles. 

“Not as much as I love you!” Sehun scoops his daughter into his arms, giving her a tight hug and a kiss on her cheek. She’s right, he does secretly love the little furry thing.

Jongin’s eyes slowly open. It’s Saturday, meaning both he and Sehun don’t have to work. It’s a day where they can both ‘sleep in’. Sleeping in meaning that their alarm clock is usually Seoyeon who marches into their room like she’s a queen and it’s her castle. 

He lets out a small huff of breath, taking note of Sehun still peacefully sleeping next to him. He cuddles up to his husband, wanting a few more seconds of peace before they both have to brave the day. Slinging his arm over Sehun’s side, he flinches when his hand is greeted with something furry instead of bare skin.

Carefully sitting up so he doesn’t disturb Sehun, he peers over his side. The sight he’s met with is Cookie curled up against his ‘cat-hating’ husband’s stomach. She twists her head and blinks up at Jongin before she rests her head back down. He must have woken her up when he accidentally bumped her. 

“Hm, I thought he closed the bedroom door, but I guess not,” Jongin muses quietly to himself. He reaches over the nightstand that’s on his side so he can grab his phone. He is not missing an opportunity to capture such an adorable moment.

In order for him to get the best angles, he needs to leave the bed. He acts like he’s avoiding trip wire with how gingerly he is slipping out of bed. He doesn’t want to wake Sehun and have him potentially ruin the precious scene.

Jongin makes sure to take multiple pictures from various angles to show off the sleeping pair. He has various pictures of Sehun sleeping on his phone like the disgustingly in love husband that he is, but these pictures hold a new kind of softness. He sets one as his phone background before he finally slips out of the bedroom to see if Seoyeon is awake.

“Hey, have a good sleep? ” Jongin asks casually when Sehun finally decides to grace his husband and daughter with his presence. 

“Yeah?” Sehun responds back warily. In the morning they just say a basic ‘good morning’ and leave it at that. If one of them slept like shit, it will usually be complained about. He finds it a little odd that Jongin is suddenly asking how he slept.

“Oh, that’s good. Breakfast is almost ready.” Jongin turns his attention back to the cabinet where he’s pulling out plates and cups. Seoyeon is in the living room watching her morning cartoons.

“How did you sleep?” Sehun asks back.

“I slept very fine. I’m glad you slept pretty well too,” Jongin responds. Sehun can still detect that there’s a deeper meaning to the words, but for the life of him, he can’t come to a conclusion as to why there is. He shrugs it off before helping his husband set the table.

After eating a delicious breakfast, the family is sitting on the couch, waiting for the new episode of one of Seoyeon’s kid’s shows to come on. Jongin picks up his phone slowly, unlocking it before staring at his wallpaper as if he forgot what he was about to do. Sehun eyes him for a second and is about to turn his attention back onto the tv before something catches his eyes.

“Did you change your wallpaper?” The brief glance of the screen he caught doesn’t look like the familiar picture Jongin has had for months now. It was from when they had gone to a butterfly garden with Seoyeon. A worker took the picture of Jongin and Sehun with Seoyeon standing in between them holding a butterfly with the biggest smile on her face out of pure joy. 

“Oh, did I?” Jongin holds up the phone close to his face in fake confusion. “I guess I did.”

“What is that?” Sehun leans over so he can get a full glance at the screen. He pauses when he takes in what it is.

“What’s what?” An ever so nosy little girl climbs over Sehun so she can poke her own nose at her papa’s phone. She starts giggling when Jongin shows her the picture.

“When did you take that?” he asks slowly. He’s faced with his own peaceful face still in deep sleep. A thin blanket is pulled up over his hips, leaving his torso and everything above exposed. Against his bare stomach is Cookie. The cat is curled up in a tight ball, tail wrapped securely around her as she sleeps.

“Just this morning. You must have slept really good to not notice her sleeping next to you.” Jongin then opens his gallery to show off the collection of pictures he took of the sleeping pair.

“I didn’t even know. She wasn’t there when I woke up.” Sehun takes the phone that Jongin is offering him. Cautiously, he begins swiping through the images. Half of them are from ridiculous angles and some are just close-ups of Cookie.

“I want to see!” Seoyeon climbs into her daddy’s lap so she can view the pictures. Sehun can’t deny his daughter, so he holds the phone in her view, swiping every few seconds to show her all the pictures her papa took.

“She’s so cute!” squeals Seoyeon. “She loves you!” 

“Yeah,” Sehun says slowly while taking another look at his sleeping self and feline. “I guess she does.” 

“And you like her too, daddy.” Seoyeon turns her body so she can glance up at Sehun, a shining smile on her face. On the other side of Sehun, Jongin is watching with a fond gaze of his own. 

“Yes, sweetheart, I do like Cookie. I’m happy she’s here,” he admits his love towards the cat again. He knows that later he’s going to get a teasing earful from his husband, but right now, it feels freeing to admit that having a cat is improving his life.

“I’m really glad you changed your mind about cats,” Jongin murmurs that night after he sets a bookmark in his newest mystery novel. 

It’s late. Seoyeon has been asleep for a few hours now, allowing her parents to relax and unwind. They’re tucked into their king-sized bed with the lights still on as they enjoy the peace and do their own separate things. Jongin had been reading while Sehun is checking up on stuff on his phone.

“Is there where you’re gonna tell me ‘I told you so’?” Sehun questions, locking his phone so he can give Jongin his full attention.

“No, not at all.” Jongin’s eyes reflect pure love. It makes Sehun’s heart gush at the sight. “I’m just genuinely so happy that you bonded with Cookie. Cats aren’t assholes. You just have to treat them right.”

“I see that now. Though, Cookie does kinda act like a typical dog. She loves to be pet, she begs for food, and she loves to chase stuff.” Sehun has realized that he very much enjoys tossing the toy balls for Cookie. She doesn’t retrieve them, but it’s still entertaining to Sehun to watch her bolt after them and bat them.

“Yeah, she does.” Jongin laughs a bit. “Still, you gave her a chance and now you’ve come to love her.”

All of a sudden, out of the corner of their vision, they spot their bedroom door creaking opening. Instantly, they perk up thinking it’s Seoyeon. Sometimes she has bad dreams and is too scared to sleep in her room by herself, so she comes to her dads so they can protect her from the monsters in her dreams. What they see instead is not their little girl, but instead a little kitty.

“You left the door open a crack on purpose, didn’t you?” Jongin eyes Sehun who flushes in embarrassment. 

“You have no proof that it was on purpose,” defends Sehun.

“Meow!” comes the cry from the side of the bed. 

“Come here, Cookie,” coos Sehun, tapping at the mattress to coax her up. With a jump, Cookie lands on the bed. Immediately, she starts rubbing up against Sehun’s arms.

“Hi, Cookie.” Jongin reaches out a hand so he can give the cat some attention too. She looks happy enough with receiving pets from Sehun, but when Jongin strokes along her back, she arches it in contentment. “Have you come to steal my husband’s attention?”

“Are you jealous of a cat?” questions Sehun while he leisurely pets along Cookie’s head and scratches under her chin. She begins to purr, her eyes closing in bliss.

“You have no proof that I am jealous over the cat,” Jongin replies, mocking Sehun’s words from just a minute ago.

“Don’t worry, I still love you more,” answers Sehun after he covers Cookie’s ears. Jongin can’t help the bubbling laugh he lets out at seeing the action.

“Wow, I knew you would come to like Cookie, but I never expected it would turn out like this.” Sehun can only glare at Jongin once he realizes that he’s right. With the way he’s been acting with Cookie, no one would ever think he was 100% against the idea of getting a cat.

“You’re being mean.” Sehun pouts. 

“I’m just speaking the truth.” Jongin huffs out another laugh. All of a sudden, Cookie begins to settle down. She plops down on top of the blanket, still purring and now kneading her paws into the material.

“I think it’s officially bedtime,” Sehun announces after watching Cookie make herself comfortable.

“You’re so whipped for the cat you’re going to go to sleep just cause she wants to. What an amazing sight.”

“It’s already late. She’s got the right idea of going to sleep now before it gets too late,” defends Sehun. 

“Whatever you say,” Jongin hums, starting to settle down himself. Cookie is in the middle of them, so Jongin is forced to stay on his side of the bed to avoid crushing the cat.

“Good night, Jongin,” says Sehun normally. “Good night, Cookie,” he coos to the feline. 

“I’m starting to think you lied when you said you love me more,” jokes Jongin.

“I can neither confirm nor deny that.” Sehun yawns, laying down himself while making sure Cookie isn’t disturbed after he turns off the light.

“You’re ridiculous,” Jongin snorts.

“Nah, no matter what, I still love you.”

“Yeah, yeah, I love you too.”

When Jongin wakes up first in the morning, he’s not at all surprised to discover that at some point during the night Cookie has repositioned herself. However, this time it appears she has wormed herself in between Sehun’s arms. He’s on his side again, Cookie’s head resting on his bicep. Jongin can’t help to eye-roll at the image again before he grabs his phone to take even more pictures of the pair.

“Daddy! Papa! Look at Cookie!” Seoyeon laughs as she drags the cat toy along the ground. Sehun bought one of those plastic wands that have a long strip of fabric at the end to see if Cookie will enjoy it.

“It looks like she’s enjoying it very much,” Jongin comments, thoroughly amused by the cat that is chasing after the object that is snaking across the carpet.

“She thinks it’s a mouse!” Seoyeon runs over to the other side of the living room, toy trailing behind her with Cookie racing after it.

“Here, can I see the toy for a second, please? Let’s see something.” Sehun stands up from where he’s been sitting next to Jongin, watching his daughter with a fond smile.

“Sure!” Seoyeon runs over to meet her father, Cookie still attacking the strip of fabric.

Sehun raises his arm high, the toy now dangling right in front of the cat’s face. He sways it back and forth, enticing Cookie. However, as soon as she attempts to catch it, Sehun jerks it away. Cookie still jumps, landing back onto the floor empty pawed. Sehun’s height is an advantage against the poor cat.

Seoyeon is amazed at how high Cookie can jump. Sehun continues to tease the feline as she struggles to get a hold of her prey. She launches herself off the floor, flying through the air. At some points, Sehun lets her grab it, giving her a false sense of victory before he manages to wiggle the toy out from under her paws.

“Please be careful,” fretts Jongin as his husband seems to unknowingly spin around in a circle. It’s funny since Jongin expected Sehun to be the uber careful one when it comes to owning a cat, but here they are.

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing,” assures Sehun as he flicks the toy out of Cookie’s reach again. Seoyeon is shrieking in laughter, shouting out encouraging words to Cookie in between her amused laughs. After a few minutes of playing, Cookie seems to be worn out now since she casually walks away from Sehun.

“I think you made her sad ‘cause she didn’t catch the toy a lot,” Seoyeon theorizes. 

“Oh, Cookie, I’m so sorry I was a meanie to you.” Sehun follows the cat where she’s walking back to the couch. He scoops her up into his arms. “Next time I’ll let you win all you want.” He proceeds to shamelessly kiss the top of her head. He presses a few more kisses before he gently sets her onto the couch.

Jongin laughs at Sehun’s blatant affection towards the cat with the multiple kisses. When Sehun settles back on the couch, Oreo climbs onto him, rubbing against him as if she’s accepting his apology.

“MEOW!” cries Cookie as she follows Sehun into the kitchen.

“What do you want, Cookie?” he questions the cat who is walking in front of him while she continues to meow. 

“I”m sorry, I don’t know what you want,” Sehun stresses. He just filled up her food bowl this morning, so she has plenty to eat. Plus, he gave her fresh clean water. Cookie walks over to the cabinet where they keep her food, plopping right in front of it and staring straight at Sehun.

“Would you like a different kind of food?” He walks over to the cat, the drink he came in to get completely forgotten. He opens the door, pulling out a different bag of cat food that is seafood flavored. “How about this?”

Cookie dismisses him holding up the food. Instead, she sticks her head into the cabinet. She headbutts the bag of cat treats they also have stored in there. Finally, Sehun understands.

“Do you want a treat?” He asks in a baby voice. He puts back the bag, grabbing the little treat packet instead. Standing back up, Cookie excitedly meows as he shakes the bag.

“Ah, so this is what you want,” he muses to the cat that is pacing around waiting for her treat. 

“MEOW!”

“Okay, okay, here you go. A treat for being such a good girl.” Sehun shakes out a fish-shaped treat. Crouching down, he holds out the treat for Cookie to take. She does so without hesitation, crunching on the treat until she swallows it. When she’s done, she looks back up at Sehun expectantly.

“Do you want another?” He doesn’t even wait for any kind of reaction from Cookie before he’s plucking another treat from the bag. He holds it out for her again and she takes it.

“If you keep giving her treats you’re going to make her fat,” Jongin’s voice suddenly reprimands. 

Sehun startles at the sound of his husband, him being too focused on Cookie to notice or hear anything. Jongin towers over him since he is still crouching down. He’s wearing one of those expressions that he uses when chastises Seoyeon for not listening. Sehun feels a little embarrassed that he is on the receiving end of such a look as a grown adult. Though, he supposes it’s just an unconscious thing Jongin does at this rate after becoming a parent.

“I only gave her two,” he defends himself. “I can’t resist her.” He pouts at Cookie, reaching out a hand to stroke along her spine. 

“That’s why she’s going to get fat off treats; you can’t resist her charm and she knows it.” This time, Jongin laughs, squatting down to also give Cookie some pets.

“Seoyeon must be teaching her how to always get her way.” Sehun keeps petting Cookie. She’s now purring happily with all the affection she’s currently receiving.

“Nah, she can tell how much of a softie you are.” Jongin grabs the packet, sealing it up before placing it back into the cabinet. “Two treats are enough for today, Cookie.”

“He’s a meanie, isn’t he?” Sehun scoops up Cookie, draping her over his shoulder. In response, Cookie rubs her head over his cheek.

“Clearly, she likes me better,” gloats Sehun. Jongin lets out a fond laugh, eyes full of love for his husband and his new bff (best feline friend).

“You know what I forgot about?” Sehun suddenly speaks up from where he’s dumping leftover food into containers.

“What’s that?” Jongin is at the sink, rinsing off and washing the dishes they had used for dinner.

“We bought that bag of catnip when we went out to buy stuff for Cookie, but we haven’t used it yet.” Sehun seals up the containers before he walks over to the fridge to stick them inside.

“Oh, no, we haven’t yet. I completely forgot about it.” 

It’s been nearly a month and a half since they first brought Cookie home. By now, she has settled down fully and loves to be around her family. Of course, it appears that she has formed quite a bond with Sehun. 

There have been a number of times that Cookie has snuck into their room and slept with them. Cookie has claimed her spot in between Sehun’s arms where he cuddles her to his chest. It’s always a heartwarming sight for Jongin to witness. A few times, he has even woken up to the sounds of Sehun murmuring to the cat about how much he likes having her around. Sometimes Cookie bounces from sleeping Seoyeon’s room or the living room, but it seems like their bed is her favorite spot.

Every single day Jongin is amused as he witnesses Sehun growing love for Cookie. He says nothing but loving, praising words about the cat and now has a hobby of taking pictures of her. He’s also so gentle with her and has easily picked up on what she needs and when she doesn’t want to be bothered with. It’s really hard to believe that this is the same man who first immediately said no to getting a cat. 

There was even one time when Jongin told Cookie to get off the kitchen counter, but Sehun had come in and told him not to yell at her like that. He gingerly picked up Cookie from off the counter before carrying her away to go lounge on the couch together. Jongin was left stunned at how much his husband is babying the feline. 

Jongin can’t help but notice that, lately, Sehun has been very secretive. One night, he had suddenly gone off to make a phone call. Jongin was startled at how his husband had excused himself before walking out of earshot. When Sehun has to make calls, usually Jongin is somewhere close by where he can hear the one-sided conversation, whether it be him talking to his parents or scheduling doctor’s appointments. He has nothing to hide with those kinds of conversations.

Another night, Sehun called Jongin saying that he will be back home late. It confused Jongin since never had Sehun’s job ever kept him later than his normal time. After a bit of thinking, he supposed that Sehun must have held back a bit due to a coworker recently leaving. The company probably hadn't hired someone yet, so Sehun might have had to do some work that the other person had done, thus causing him to get out at a later time.

Tonight, right after Sehun arrived home, in the middle of Jongin greeting him, his ring tone went off. Sehun turned his attention to his phone where, when he took a glance at the screen, kept a straight face and excused himself again.

If Jognin wanted to, he could have snuck into their bedroom where Sehun went and listened in. However, he trusts Sehun. If his suspicious behavior continues, then Jongin might approach his husband. Jongin tries not to worry himself into thinking he’s being cheated on because it’s not a healthy mindset to have when Sehun is allowed to have his privacy. He knows Sehun loves him to the moon and back, and that’s enough to keep his mind calm.

“Can you think of anything else that we might need at the store?” Jongin asks, glancing over the list he wrote out. 

“Not that I can think of.” Sehun also takes a look over the list while thinking hard to make sure they both didn’t miss an item they need. 

Each weekend, Jongin and Sehun switch off going to the grocery store so the other can stay home to watch Seoyeon. She becomes bored easily when she goes with one of them to shop all because she begged to come with her father. Plus, having a little kid trying to throw every kind of candy and unhealthy snack into the cart is a bit tiring. It’s just easier if one of them can take their time shopping and not have to worry about Seoyeon complaining about wanting to go home. 

“Alright, then I’ll be back in a little while.” Jongin presses a kiss to Sehun’s lips then gives the top of Seoyeon’s head a kiss as she says goodbye to her papa. After grabbing his keys and checking to make sure he has his wallet, Jongin leaves the house.

“Hey, Seoyeon-ah, wanna go somewhere?” Sehun asks the little girl after waiting a minute to make sure Jongin has left the driveway.

“Yes, yes! Where to?” Seoyeon’s face lights up at the question. 

“You’ll see.” Sehun grins, picking up his daughter before making his way to her room. “Let’s get dressed and then we’ll go, okay?”

Jongin slams the trunk shut before picking up the grocery bags. He had honked the horn to let Sehun know he is home so he can come out and help. Seconds later, Sehun opens the door and takes an armful of the groceries in Jongin’s arms. 

“How was shopping?” Sehun asks casually as he twists the doorknob to the front door.

“Oh, it was fine, but I tried to use one of the coupons and-”

“Papa! papa, papa, papa!” Seoyeon comes rushing out to greet her fathers as if her life depends on it.

“What? What’s wrong?” Jongin immediately feels a sense of panic as he hurriedly sets the bags he’s carrying on the kitchen counter.

“Daddy got another cat!” announces Seoyeon.

Jongin gets whiplash from the little girl’s words. His eyes grow round and his mouth hangs open in surprise as he slowly turns to face his husband who is pretending to ruffle through the bags.

“Sehun,” Jongin says slowly. Said male has the decency to look sheepish as he finally makes eye contact with his husband. 

“Surprise!” Sehun says meekly.

Thinking that they’re playing a prank on him, his eyes drift to where Cookie’s food and water dishes are placed. Sure enough, sitting right next to the Pusheen set are stainless steel bowls that have cat faces and fish shapes all around it. He looks back up at Sehun.

“Well, I have to say, I sure wasn’t expecting this to happen,” Jongin admits, still trying to absorb the new information that they are now the owners of two cats.

“I thought Cookie was getting lonely,” reasons Sehun. “We work a lot, so she’s home most of the day by herself.”

Jongin secretly thinks his husband’s reason for getting another cat is more than just ‘she’s lonely’. He figures Sehun’s new found love for Cookie as a cat has now branched out into wanting another one so he can love it too. It’s almost as if he’s making up for all the years he spent harboring hatred for cats for no legitimate reason. 

“Where’s the new cat?” Jongin can’t even pretend to be mad that Sehun went out and adopted another cat without his permission. Sure, a heads up would have been nice, but he has to admit that there are worse surprises Sehun could spring on him. Plus, it seems like Sehun has made sure the new cat has its own set of stuff.

“Wait a second.” Jongin abruptly pauses, holding up a finger as he thinks. “The time you said you were coming home late from work, were you out buying more cat stuff?”

“Yeah,” Sehun admits, a shit-eating grin on his face.

“And the calls you took in private?”

“I was talking to Jisoo from the shelter.”

“Good, I got worried for a second there,” Jongin attempts to joke. Inwardly, he sighs in relief. Even if he had the briefest thought that Sehun might be sneaking behind his back, he’s glad that that miniscule thought won’t be coming to reality.

“Did you, did you think I was cheating on you?” Sehun questions, eyes widening in disbelief. 

“I’ll admit, it crossed my mind for half a second, but I trust you.” Saying the words out makes Jongin feel a bit guilty, but he isn’t lying when he said that he trusts Sehun. 

“Good, ‘cause trust me, you’re stuck with me until we’re all old and grey and wrinkly.” Sehun comes over to engulf his husband into a tight embrace. He pulls back to then give him a sweet kiss, causing Jongin to laugh.

“Now, let me see this cat.” Jongin removes himself from Sehun’s arms. He makes his way into the living room where he spots Seoyeon on the carpet petting a cat that isn’t Cookie.

“Look, papa!” she calls from her place on the ground. “Her name is Luna!”

“Luna... “ murmurs Jongin to himself as he comes over to the pair. “Isn’t this the cat from the shelter that really liked you.” Jongin then looks up at Sehun who had followed behind him. As if to answer his question, Luna breaks away from Seoyeon and proceeds to meow at Sehun.

“Aw, come here, baby.” Sehun picks up Luna, holding her and bouncing her as if she really is a baby.

“It is!” Jongin takes a close look at the grey and white cat that appears to be completely content with being treated this way. “You really picked up the cat that was attached to you at the shelter.”

“Ever since we brought Cookie home I couldn’t stop thinking about her,” Sehun reveals. “I know it’s only been two months since we brought Cookie home, but I called the shelter just to make sure that Luna was still there. When they said she was, I really wanted to bring her home.” Sehun gazes down at the cat in his arms with so much tender love.

“Plus, I thought Cookie would like a friend, so Luna was a perfect choice since they were in the same room together and all,” he then adds hastily as if it were an afterthought.

“Hmm, it was meant to be then.” Jongin raises a hand so he can rub along the cat’s head and scratch under her chin. She’s purring loudly, probably very happy in her new home with her new family.

“Yup, we’re a purrfect family now,” jokes Sehun, punctuating his sentence with a kiss to Luna’s cheek.

Jongin groans at the lame joke, but he can’t help that the words actually make his heart swell in an over amount of love.

First, they were so fortunate enough to be able to adopt Seoyeon and give her the life she deserves. Then, they adopted Cookie who was left behind by her old family, but now will have this house to call her own until her time comes to leave this world. Now, they have Luna who was a stray and wasn’t shown the kind of love that she deserves.

He’s so proud of Sehun for changing his stubborn ways of disliking cats to now loving and adoring two of them. He knew that the right kind of cat would get his husband to melt like an ice cube, and Cookie and Luna did a fantastic job of doing just that. Sehun’s all love and gentle words and a warm heart. Jongin is just incredibly happy that he is here to watch Sehun share his love with, not only him, but with their daughter and new family members as well.

“Yeah,” Jongin agrees, eyes roaming over Sehun then to Luna then to finally Seoyeon who found Cookie somewhere and is now mimicking her father in the way she’s holding the cat. “We’re a perfect family, now.”


End file.
